Weddingbee Blog

Thanks so much for all your great feedback on vaccinations! I decided better to be safe than sorry and get vaccines of my own as well.

Mr. Bee filled his typhoid vaccine and anti-malaria prescriptions this past weekend. Our pharmacist didn’t tell us that the typhoid vaccine needed to be refrigerated (although it was posted on the medication direction sheet), so we left it aside and it was ruined. That sucker cost $65 because it wasn’t covered by insurance!

I decided to go ahead get prescriptions for the same vaccines, and went into my doc’s office yesterday. It was already too late to start the typhoid regimen (as it was for Mr. Bee as well), so she only gave me a prescription for an anti-malaria medication and cipro (a traveller’s sickness treatment… only to be used in case of).

The weird thing is, she checked my bloodwork from a recent physical I had, and it showed that I had no antibodies for Hepatitis A & B. I know I got those vaccines, because Hep A is a three shot course over six months. Perhaps I got a weak batch? As a hypochondriac, that’s actually pretty disturbing. Anyway I got revaccinated for Hep A&B yesterday, which is recommended for travel to Central America.

You actually have to start taking all these vaccines before you travel, so I thought I’d provide a description of them, and how much they cost (which will vary depending on your insurance).

1) Hepatitis A Vaccine - shot administered at doctor’s office. This is a 3 shot series - you get the second one after two months, and the third four months after that. Hep B is often given in the same shot cocktail (as in my case).

2) Tetanus Vaccine - shot administered at doctor’s office. Good for 10 years.

3) Typhoid Vaccine - aka Vivotif Berna. Take 1 capsule every other day for 4 doses, completing it one week before travel. This was $65, not covered by our insurance.

4) Anti-Malarial Medication - aka Chloroquine. Take 1 capsule once a week starting one week prior to travel, continuing 4 weeks after return. Our insurance only covered 4 pills at a time, so Mr. Bee has to go back for a refill for the last pill. The prescription was covered by our insurance though, and cost $10. Without insurance it’s $30.99

5) Anti-Malarial Medication - aka Malarone. Take 1 tablet daily starting 1-2 days before departure, and continue 7 more tablets daily after returning. I opted for this instead of the Chloroquine that Mr. Bee got, because I wanted to get it over with at once rather than taking pills over 5 weeks. This costs $103 without insurance, and $25 with our insurance.

6) Cipro - aka Ciprofloxacin. This will only be used as treatment for traveller’s sickness, diarrhea. It was covered by our insurance and cost $10.

So there you have it - these are the recommended vaccines/meds for Costa Rica. Hopefully this helps you plan ahead for your honeymoon and not be a procrastinator like me, who now has no typhoid vaccine. But I’m not really worried because the chances of getting either typhoid or malaria are very low in this dry season. Still better safe than sorry!